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How to Break Into the Game Industry Part 1: Or, How I Learned to Love Sleepless Nights and Caffeine.

Author of the article:

Robert Edwards

Publishing date:

July 16, 2013 • 4 minute read

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This is an ongoing blog about game culture, development and a primer for an introduction to the professional gaming world . We’re Boximals Studios – a video game studio in Vancouver, passionate about making games, the industry, and blogging about it! Last Week we took a look at Google Play and the Apple App Store, and compared the two.

This week’s blog is the first in a three part series detailing tips and tricks on how to break into the Video Game Industry. Today we’re going to focus on programming, designing and developing, and the steps you can take to get a leg up on the competition (Of which there is a lot). While we’re going to have a bit more focus on the Indie Scene, we’ll touch on Triple A studios as well.

How to Break Into the Game Industry Part 1: Or, How I Learned to Love Sleepless Nights and Caffeine.Back to video

One thing to note for aspirational game designers and programmers: Making Video Games is a rewarding and often times fun job. It’s also hard. Long hours, sleepless nights and sometimes not much in the way of a monetary reward. During the crunch time on major game, it isn’t unknown for developers to work hundreds of hours of overtime.

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Sort of looks like an Early Childhood Education chart. Clyde’s impressed! Source.

If you’re not scared off, read on ahead!

First off, let’s take a look at some of the things that you “should” have for getting into programming, development and level design. There is a catchword in the industry, maybe a bit overused, but it is passion. You NEED to be passionate about making games. Maybe you’ve had that epiphany moment playing a game when you realized “This could be better, and here’s how”. Or maybe you just really want to create something all of your own. In many ways it is like any form of creative endeavor: You need to have that burning feeling inside, something clawing its way out.

From a programming standpoint, there are a few skills that are handy. One big thing about programming, art and a development is that it really has to be something that you enjoy enough to do it in your spare time. Many developers get started working on their own projects, designing levels in Half-Life, Minecraft or Unreal and publishing them on community sites for peer review. Some knowledge of C#, C++, Action Script 3 is handy, but not necessary. Many modern mobile and indie games are made in Unity, so it’s good to be familiar with that piece of software as well.

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Finally, making games is generally a team project. While there are some games that have been made by singular developers, they are few and far between. The overlapping skillsets of at, writing and programming don’t tend to exist in a lot of people. Make sure you know how to work well in a team, and be ready to defend your ideas and choices. Taking criticism is a huge part of any creative industry, be prepared for this as well. Criticism isn’t always a bad thing, as any writer will tell you.

At the Game Developers Conference in 2012 Sid Meier gave a talk on Game Development and how decisions affect game design. It’s worth a read, and is located athere.

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They may be easy to execute, but there’s a lot of complexity in that Fireball. Source.

There are ways to learn these skillsets outside of being self taught. Many universities or private schools offer Game Design classes, but if you’re going to go this route make sure to research your school extensively. Look at alumni, and games they’ve worked on, and try to connect with them if possible. The above list of skills was garnered by speaking to an alumni of Vancouver Film School’sGame Design Program, but traditional schooling isn’t the only way to earn the skills to break into the industry.

Once you’ve got the skills the best advice that we can offer is to get out there and make games. An industry professional will tell you this is the best way to create a portfolio, but always make sure your best work is represented. There are a few sites out there to find freelance work, and teams to work on ( E-Lance, IndieDB), and the more experience, the better. It’s possible for a small company of independent designers to create a product that can see wide distribution.

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Just remember, Minecraft started out the same way.

That’s the biggest advantage of Indie gaming: Taking your own creation and building it with a small team in the vision that you truly want.

This method is the one we’re following here atBoximals. The members of our team mostly came from Vancouver Film School’s various programs, took a student project and built a company around it. As a writer, artist, programmer and producer, we felt we had tenured skill sets, but really wanted to work on our own projects and creations. As a team we work to follow what we’re preaching, making sure there are open lines of communication, we listen to each others feedback and critiques and, most of all, resisting the urge to abandon the others by the side of a moonlit highway at midnight.

Check back next week when take a look at how to break into the industry: Art and Producing.

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